To tag or not to tag: let’s drink tea first

Tagging, a modern blog version of the chain letter. Being tagged by @jackie of “Cups of tea with Jackie” means a decision has to be made. Ignore it or talk about the least interesting thing in the universe: me.

So lets start and see what this will tell you about me.

1) First, let’s start with how you were introduced & fell in love with the wonderful beverage of tea.

I grew up with tea. It has been the normal several times a day drink and at times I had to study, several litres of tea went in through that gap called mouth. Though it was always Pickwick English tea with sugar. It was at University that I first started with Pickwick loose leaf Ceylon, English blend and Darjeeling and the herbals Nettle , Camille and peppermint. Then a new tea store opened and unguided I tried several teas. I got stuck with “Japanse kers” for a long time. And then a friend gave me the basic tea information that I longed for so long ago, but did not dare to ask in the store, in an experimental tea workshop a few years ago. Since then I’m really lost in tea.

Yes I still have a box that some people gave me so I would have some “normal” tea… I could check to see how well this tea aged in all those years after the expire date…

2) What was the very first tea blend that you ever tried?

The Pickwick English Blend.

3) When did you start your tea blog & what was your hope for creating it?

May last year. It was an experiment and I did it because I wanted to write a reply to another post. The reply would have been too long as a standard reply. I never wrote that reply. I can’t even remember to whom and what the reply would have been.

4) List one thing most rewarding about your blog & one thing most discouraging.

Most rewarding: The writing process.

The most discouraging: lack of time & energy combinations to spend writing. I.e. I either have the time but not the energy to write or the other way around.

5) What type of tea are you most likely to be caught sipping on?

Depends on circumstances and time of day. At work I usually drink something to pump me up like a Darjeeling second or autumn flush or a strong green or oolong. At home I usually shift from black to oolong to green during the day and puerh if I feel like it.

6) Favorite tea latte to indulge in?

Can you drink that?

7) Favourite treat to pair with your tea?

Either nothing, some neutral biscuit or chocolate.

8) If there was one place in the World that you could explore the tea culture at, where would it be & why?

That one place it called World. It is a big place filling the entire short-list I had to pick from. It has a wide array of tea cultures, tea history etc.

But if I have to select a much smaller area it would probably be the south of China. The region where tea drinking started and a grand and very interesting tea culture exists.

9) Any teatime rituals you have that you’d like to share?

What teatime? It is always teatime. I let the “rituals” depend on the circumstances and preferences of the moment itself. There is not really a ritual that I recognize as such.

10) Time of day you enjoy drinking tea the most: Morning, Noon, Night or Anytime?

All of the above.

11) What’s one thing you wish for tea in the future?

I don’t like questions that limit me to a maximum of one answer, because there are too many things that I would like. Lets start with world peace. There are still many regions, including tea producing regions, that ain’t have peace. Second a good high quality life for all those tea related people. A rise in average quality so restaurants don’t force you to drink either below average tea or something you don’t want to drink. And of course that everyone sees the hidden treasures in the world while enjoying tea.

Who do you tag?

So now it is my turn to put people under pressure to decide: ignore or write. And this while most already wrote their post. I choose @lahikmajoe of “Lahikmajoe Drinks Tea” anyway, because I miss his posts.

3 thoughts on “To tag or not to tag: let’s drink tea first”

Loved reading this Bram. You’ve been with us for so long but you are right, you hardly ever talk about yourself – your personal likes and dislikes, your tea history. I do like your blog very much though and all the many pictures you take. It was nice to get a glimpse of the “private” Bram. Thanks for taking me up on my tag.
Now I hope dear friend @lahikmajoe does too, but he might be a lost cause.